If anyone has ever wondered what the mother of an 18 month old boy does all day, here it is...... She either chooses to wade through the amazing mess they can make in a very short period of time (these 3 shots took about 30 minutes for him to accomplish) or she constantly follows him around picking up as he goes, getting nothing else done....ever. I have joined the camp of wading through the mess until he takes a nap. I seem less stressed out and get other things accomplished while he destroys the house and gives me more work to do! Everyone told me that having a boy would be different than a girl and honestly, I didn't believe them. Halie has an extreme amount of energy, so I figured no boy would top that. Austin doesn't have the same energy level, he is just destructive and loves to throw things. Very different than I remember Halie. He has recently started sitting in chairs other than his high chair, playing very intently with cars and stacking blocks. All fun things to watch as he grows and explores his little world.

This weekend we were able to take a family trip up to the lake house, just the 4 of us. We had a great time. It was the first time in a long time that we just got to hang out as a family and play together. We spent alot of time outside playing on the swing set. Halie is an amazing swinger now. She said she teaches the kids at school how to swing. Austin loves the swing, he sat in it most the time up there and would bat your hand away if you tried to get him out. Paul and I both almost injured ourselves showing Halie how to do cartwheels. She is coming along very nicely! We played football, Frisbee, board games, had a scavenger hunt and just had fun being together. It makes me very excited for Paul being done with school here shortly and getting to hang out with us more!

Tonight we were all loaded up in the car, headed to the gym for spin class, actually driving down the road and Paul says "Wow, the weather just got really nice, I think a family walk sounds better than spin class". Ok, twist my arm.... So, we turned around and took a walk. Halie decided she wanted to work on her running. She wants to do a kids triathlon this summer after she turns five. She said "I am good on the bike, but i need to work on my swimming and running for my race". Nana bought her a long sleeved running shirt a while back that she wanted to wear, she looked so cute on her first run! I am so sad I forgot to take a picture. She did great, she ran for 4 minutes, took a break and then ran for 8 minutes and took a break, then finished it up with a few more minutes, 15 all together! She has a pretty natural form, maybe we have a future runner on our hands! I have a feeling she may be a little sore tomorrow. She was very proud of herself!